Alexa Takai, Kailer Stone Lead After Second Round of the 50th Junior PGA Championships at PGA Frisco

On another hot Texas summer day, Fields Ranch at PGA Frisco continued to test the world’s top juniors in the second round of the 2026 Junior PGA Championships. The competition will get just as hot as the event moves for the final two rounds exclusively to Field Ranch East, which has seen just 36 rounds under par over two days.   

Hawaii’s Alexa Takai emerged as the new leader in the Girls Division while California’s Kailer Stone preserved his one-shot lead among the Boys heading into Thursday’s third round. The third round will be streamed live on the PGA of America YouTube channel starting at 3 p.m. CT.

Takai shot the lowest round so far on Fields Ranch East, an impressive 6-under 66 to jump 14 spots up the leaderboard with an overall score of 9-under 135. She carded five birdies on her front-nine and added two more down the stretch, with her lone blemish a bogey at the par-5 14th. 

“I think the front nine was pretty scorable today,” said the Honolulu native. “I had a lot of wedges in and just stayed patient. I was able to judge the wind pretty well on those wedges, so I hit a few of them close in there and just made the putts that I knew I had to make. I didn't really miss too many inside of eight feet, and in these tournaments that's pretty much the key.” 

Despite all the birdies, Takai credited her par-save on the par-4 11th as her best hole. Immediately following her sixth birdie of the round, the 17-year-old missed the green on her approach shot at 11, but made a tough up and down to keep her bogey free through that point.

“That was one of the only greens I missed today,” said Takai. “The birdies were nice, but kind of keeping that scorecard pretty clean on that hole was really great for me.”

Sweden’s Leah Gram sits in second place, two strokes behind Takai after an up-and-down 3-under 69 Wednesday. She opened with a birdie on the par-5 1st, which got her into a good mindset from the start.

“I think hole one [was key],” said the 15-year-old. “Some of the tee shots I'm not particularly a fan of, and I really like that tee shot. I think starting on that hole was a good confidence booster and starting off with a birdie set the tone for the day. That was probably the best hole today.”

Gram added five more birdies on the day, including back-to-back on the par-5 14th and par-4 15th, against three bogeys. She finds herself in prime position at 7-under 137.

“I feel pretty good,” said Gram. “I think going into the next few days, I'm just going to keep the same momentum, stay positive and just let the birdies come to me.”

Three players are tied for third at 6-under 138: Yujie Liu of China (2-under 70); Ava Zhang of Lake Mary, Florida (1-under 71); and Alexandra Phung of Forest Hills, New York (2-under 70). 

Phung shot a bogey-free 2-under 70, staying steady with birdies on the par-3 4th and par-4 16th. 

“I'm very happy with my round,” said the 15-year-old Phung. “I feel like I was very patient. Some of the other girls were sinking some really nice birdie putts, and you know I would just barely miss mine low or high. I just had to keep trucking along and do my best.”

First round leader Carolyn Liu from Katy, Texas, is among three tied for sixth at 5-under 139 after a challenging 3-over 75 Wednesday. 

Stone followed up his steady 4-under 68 on Fields Ranch East Tuesday with a rollercoaster 5-under 67 Wednesday, and maintains his one-stroke lead at 9-under 135 after two rounds. The Alameda, California, native was “overall maybe a little bit” more aggressive today, but he knew there would “definitely be some low scores out there” as the boys moved to Fields Ranch West.  

“I think it's a solid round,” said the 18-year-old Stone. “Definitely a tough start with the birdie-bogey-double. Glad it happened in the first three holes, so there was a lot of golf left. There are birdies out there, so I knew that if I just stayed in it, I would have some chances coming back.”

After opening with a birdie on the par-5 1st, Stone bogeyed the par-4 2nd and double-bogeyed the par-3 3rd. After steadying his round with three pars, he returned to form with three straight birdies on holes 7-9 to make the turn at 1-under. Stone carded one final bogey at the par-4 14th, but five back nine birdies, including back-to-back to close out his round on the par-5 17th and 18th holes, were the highlight. 

“The birdie on 7, that was a huge one for me,” said Stone, who will be playing college golf at Pepperdine this fall. “It was kind of the first putt I made all day, like 14 to 15 feet. That kind of set me off for 8 and 9. Just making that putt on 7 really got the momentum going.”

Just behind Stone on a crowded leaderboard is Theodore Snyder from Gig Harbor, Washington, who carded eight birdies against three bogeys Wednesday to match Stone’s 67. He entered the day in a tie for second after a late birdie on Fields Ranch East’s 18th hole Tuesday, and left today’s round in solo second at 8-under 136.  

“I played pretty solid today,” said Snyder, who will be playing at Yale this fall. “I wasn't pushing for anything. The biggest thing was putting. I was putting well today. That's just a big factor for me because normally I'm driving it well and I normally tend to hit my irons pretty well, but it's when the putter gets on, that’s what really helps. I made a couple of bogeys, a couple of mistakes, but I came back with some birdies.”

Snyder opened his round with a birdie on the par-5 9th and closed just as strong with back-to-back birdies on the par-4 7th and 8th holes. After three bogeys down the stretch and a close par on the par-5 6th, he knew he “needed to end with two birdies.”

“I was really proud of how I ended,” said the 18-year-old Snyder. “On 7, I hit it to three feet for a tap in. Then on 8, I hit it to 6 feet and made the putt. I started off good and ended off well, so I was happy about that.”

Ainslie Stanford, from Edmond, Oklahoma, jumped 36 spots up the leaderboard into third at 7-under 137 after firing a 9-under 63, the lowest round of the championship. Starting on the 9th hole, the 16-year-old’s bogey-free round was highlighted by four-straight birdies on holes 11-14, with all four putts under 10 feet.

“I knew going into the day that there were going to be birdies out there,” said Stanford. “My driver wasn't exactly where it needed to be yesterday. I felt like if I could get that going today and make some putts, I knew I could get it going. [Those birdies] definitely got the momentum going nice, which was a lot of fun for me.”

Four players are tied for fourth at 6-under 138, including Jacob Newsom from Tulsa, Oklahoma (5-under 67); Evan Liu from Rancho Santa Fe, California (7-under 65); Spencer Harrison from Australia (5-under 67); and Matthew Marigliano from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida (6-under 66). 

Charlie Woods shot a 2-under 70 Wednesday, moving into a tie for 46th at 1-over 145 to make the cut by one stroke. 

The cutline came in at 4-over for the Girls after play ended, sending 62 competitors into the third round.

In the Boys Division, the cutline was 2-over, with 65 advancing to play on Thursday.

A second cut will be made after 54 holes to the low-30 girls and low-30 boys, plus ties.

The 50th Junior PGA Championships continue Thursday at PGA Frisco starting at 7:10 a.m. CT, with play moving exclusively to Fields Ranch East for the final two rounds. 

New for 2026, the final two rounds of the Junior PGA Championships will be streamed live on the PGA of America YouTube channel. The broadcast of the third round on Thursday, July 30, will start at 3 p.m. CDT while the final round stream on Friday, July 31, will begin at 11 a.m. CDT. The stream will run through the conclusion of play both days and the trophy presentation on Friday.

The broadcast, originating from the PGA of America Studios at the Home of the PGA of America, will be led by host Bryan Fenley, analyst Ewan Porter and analyst and on-course reporter Lauren Withrow.

“For me, I love a crowd. I think it's super fun to have people out there and playing with Charlie is always super fun. I think a lot of people think Charlie thinks he's too cool for people and whatever else, but he's amazing out there. He's one of my favorite people to play with, super fun to talk to, just a great guy to play with. I love having a crowd and I loved it out there.” - Ainslie Stanford on the added attention playing in the group with Charlie Woods

“I’m leaving behind everything, I’m going to just treat it like a new day. Hopefully I can keep up the good golf, take it one shot at a time, kind of just stay in my bubble.” - Girls leader Alexa Takai on her mindset heading into the third round

“The East Course, it's a whole different course. It’s a lot tighter off the fairways. The miss is right, the hazard is all on the right side. The thing I did is I aimed kind of at the rough. If it cut, it cut, and if I was in the rough, I was fine because most of the time you're getting in a fine lie. The key is just not to lose shots off the tee. So, as long as you're in play, that's the main thing.” - Theodore Snyder on his strategy at Fields Ranch East

“They just do a great job putting together the best they can for each course and tournament they go to. I know they really have a love for the game and they really try to make the experience unique every time. And obviously all the different venues they reach. Without their support in junior golf, us juniors wouldn't be able to get to those nice courses.” - Alexandra Phung on playing PGA of America events

“East was playing very tough yesterday. This is my third time playing in this event and normally the first round leader is at 8-under. So if there were only about 20 guys under par yesterday, it shows that the East has some teeth. I knew if I could get out on the West, I didn't really plan on going 7-under, but you know, if I got to 3- or 4- under, I could definitely get myself back in the tournament” - Wylie Inman, whose 7-under 65 Wednesday moved him 31 spots up the leaderboard into a tie for eighth. 

Of the 27 junior golfers from the host Northern Texas PGA Section competing at the Junior PGA Championships this week, seven players made the cut.

Gia Ahlowalia of Southlake leads the girls from the Northern Texas PGA Section at even-par 144, tied for 27th overall. Eileen Lee (Plano, Texas) is 2-over 146, tied for 45th in the division. 

Ryan Lee (Plano) and Lincoln Rubis (Farmers Branch) lead the boys from the Section at 4-under 140, tied for 12th overall. Brayden Verret (Farmers Branch) is tied for 25th at 1-under 143, Knox Barnard (Waxahachie) is tied for 46th overall at 1-over 145 and Andrew Scott (Wylie) is tied for 58th at 2-over 146. 

For more information about the Junior PGA Championships, visit JuniorPGAChampionship.com and follow on X and Instagram.